New ways to see the world
I walked up to the Convenience store in the airport and had to scan my credit card just to walk in… that’s weird. All I wanted was a bottle of water for the flight.
I picked up my items and approached the person standing by the reader where I entered. “Just walk out,” she said.
“Excuse me,” I’m sure my slightly confused tone told her my “you’re not from around here” nature of being. Side note: yes. I realize that as a midwesterner I stand out EVERYWHERE.
“You just walk out”, she said in an expressionless tone.
I walked out…with my water and magazine. My credit card charged for my items. I never even passed by a self check out.
A piece of me didn’t know if I liked that. You can just bill by credit card, and another part of me was like, “that’s SO COOL!,” which went along with a third part of me that was just enthralled with the convenience and efficiency of time in this model!
As I sat down it occurred to me that this is one of the reasons I love going to new places; I love being in places with people who look different, sound different, believe differently and think differently than I do.
This is how my mind grows. What, in the initial immediacy was a, “hey this is different and I don’t know if I like it,” turned very quickly into interest and then appreciation. As I think back on it, this is ultimately why we now live in a world that is supporting space travel as entertainment, when in my lifetime we put the first person on the moon. (If one person says “allegedly” in their head as they read this I will absolutely die laughing. Please email me if you do. I love sarcastic humor.)
Things change when people think differently. Things grow and improve and what was once thought impossible quickly becomes a part of history. It’s so great! It’s what I love about this human existence! We are constantly doing things that not so long ago someone thought was impossible.
Yeah, I realize not every idea is a good one, and sometimes human intervention seems like a catastrophe waiting to happen but seriously MOST of the time, it’s great.
We are curing diseases that used to be a death sentence. We are traveling and shopping, and creating energy systems, and technology, and finance and health care and mind care and the list goes on and on, all because someone thought differently.
I love people. I mean I’m an introvert so don’t go overboard here, but I do indeed love people and the potential that lives and expands because of us.
All of us.
There is nowhere magical I’m headed with this. It’s just my perspective. But I want you to consider it the next time you see someone or something that your mind’s first response is “that’s weird,” to look a bit further, deeper. Wait a minute and settle.
What does it, or they, have to offer the situation?
Just consider.
Let’s make the world a better place one new thought at a time.
Forever the journey, Anne